• 1 ' \ v 
• ournal of 
social development 
in africa 
Volume 18 no 2 2003 
ISSN 1012-1080
Published twice annually, the Journal 
seeks to enhance understanding of the 
social development processes so as to 
contribute to the planning and implementation 
of appropriate intervention 
strategies at different levels. Its goal is 
to discover how to target projects that 
are relevant to those most in need and 
how to maximize popular participation 
to create egalitarian and productive 
communities. 
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JOURNALOFSOC1ALDEVELOHMENT IN AFRICA 
School of Social m r k 
P Bag 66022 Kopje Harare Zimbabwe 
The Journal publishes analyses of social 
development issues as they affect the 
poor and marginalized. It deals especially 
with concerns relevant to sub Saharan 
Africa and is addressed to development 
and social workers, planners, policymakers 
and academics in a variety of 
fields. 
EDITOR 
CAROLEPEARCE 
ED1TORIALBOARD 
EDWIN KASEKE(CHAIRPERSONX PRINCIPAL, 
SCHOOL OFSOCIAL WORK, HARARE 
PERPETUAGUMBO, LECTURER, SCHOOLOF 
SOCIAL WORK, HARARE 
VICTOR MUZVIDZIWA. UNIVERSITY OF 
ZIMBABWE, HARARE 
EDITOBIALADVJSORS 
GARYCRAIG,PROEOFSOCIAL]USTICE. 
UNIVERSITY OF HULL, UK 
LENA DOMINELLLDEPARTMENTOF SOCIAL 
WORKSTUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF 
SOUTHAMPTON.UK 
JOHNF.JONES.DEAN, GRADUATE SCHOOLOF 
SOCIAL WORK, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER, 
USA. 
LYNNE HEALY, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT 
SCHOOLOFSOCIAL WORK, WEST 
HARTFORD.USA. 
HHLEMAZIBUKO,ASSOCIATEDEAN,FACULTY 
OFCOMMUNITY AND DEVELOPMENT, 
UNIVERSITY OF NATAL, DURBAN, SOUTH 
AFRICA. 
JAMES MTOGLEY, SPECHTPROFESSOR AND DEAN. 
SCHOOLOF SOCIAL WELFARE, UNIVERSITY 
OFCALIFORNIAATBERKELEY.USA. 
LENGWEMWANSA. DEFT. OF SOCIAL WORK. 
UNIVERSITY OFBOTSWANA, BOTSWANA. 
RKMARDWINTERSTEEN,MINNESOTASTATE 
UNIVERSITY, MANKATO. USA-
EDITORIAL 
Orphans' household circumstances and access 
to education in a maturing HIV epidemic in Zimbabwe 
Constance A. Nyamukapa, Geoff Foster 
and Simon Gregson 
Kayayei: the women head porters of southern Ghana 
James Adu Opare 
Globalization, migration and social development 
Gary Craig 
The role of popular participation and community work 
ethic in rural development: Nandi District, Keny? 
Philip K. Rono and 
Abdillahi A. Aboud 
Schools and health: a district-level evaluation of school 
health education in Ghana 
Samuel Adu-Mireku 
The re-emergence of tuberculosis among the 
economically productive age group in Mombasa district 
Joel K. Kiboss and 
Nicholas K, Kibitok 
Civil society and democratization: the Cameroonian 
experience 
Oben Timothy Mbuagbo and 
Celestina Neh Fru 
CUMULATIVE INDEX OF ARTICLES 2002-2003
Journal of Social Development in Africa 
Vol 18 No 2 2003 
EDITORIAL 
ARTICLES 
Contents 
Orphans' household circumstances and access 
to education in a maturing HIV epidemic in eastern 
Zimbabwe 
Constance A. Nyamukapa, Geoff Foster and 
Simon Gregson , 7 
Kayayei: the women head porters of southern Ghana 
James Adu Opare 33 
Globalization, migration and social development 
Gary Craig 49 
The role of popular participation and community 
work ethic in rural development: the case of Nandi 
District, Kenya 
Philip K. Rono and Abdillahi A. Aboud Tl 
Schools and health: a district-level evaluation of school 
health education in Ghana 
Samuel Adu-Mireku . 105 
The re-emergence of tuberculosis among the 
economically productive age group in Kenya: 
the case of Mombasa district 
Joel K. Kiboss and Nicholas K. Kibitok 121 
Civil society and democratization: the Cameroonian 
experience 
Oben Timothy Mbuagbo and Celestina Neh Fru 
CUMULATIVE INDEX OF ARTICLES 2002-2003 149
EDITORIAL 
The articles in this issue represent a spread of topics from four countries. 
The topics cover health, health education in schools, work, orphans 
and community participation, as well as the effects of globalization and 
the role of civil society in the democratization process. 
The article on health by Nyamukapa et al. is based on a household 
survey in a largely rural district of Zimbabwe, Manicaland. The study 
attempts to map the developmental impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic 
on the domestic circumstances of orphans, including the demographic 
characteristics of their residence and their access to education. 
Policymakers and community workers need to know precisely how AIDS 
orphans are affected so that suitable and sustainable interventionist 
strategies can be put in place. The authors point to the analytical 
importance of factors such as the age of the child when a parent becomes 
ill or dies, the duration of the parent(s) illness and the order in which 
father and mother may die. All these features have a different impact on 
the care and educational opportunities subsequently available to the 
child. 
The analysis found, among other things, that as far as education is 
concerned, there appears to be no gender difference in the access to 
primary school of boys and girls, orphaned or not, of children aged 5 to 
7. In the older age groups, however, girls are more likely to have 
completed primary school than boys. It is a surprise to find that maternal 
death has a stronger effect on an older child's chances of completing 
primary school than paternal death. However, the greater the number of 
years it is since the mother died, say the authors, the smaller is the 
chance that the young man or woman will have completed school. In 
their conclusion the authors make the methodological point that the 
effects on a child of losing one or both parents are progressive and 
intensify over time. To isolate the progressive impact of orphanhood, 
therefore, data must be stratified on different aspects of the child's wellbeing 
and the length of time since the parent(s) died. 
A short article by Kiboss and Kibitok examines the re-emergence of 
IB in Mombasa District. Kenya, especially among economically-
productive men. They surmise that men are affected because they live 
and work in crowded, unsanitary conditions characterized by poverty. 
The authors find that 70% of their sample knew that TB is caused by 
"germs"; that over 60% sought help in private medical institutions and 
that nearly half had been directed to these facilities by a private 
practitioner. They end by pointing out that more work needs to be done 
in educating the public on this important health issue. 
Samuel Adu-Mireku analyses the application of a school health 
education programme in Ghana. This far-reaching programme was 
established in Ghana in 1992 to promote health education of children 
and adolescents as a way not only of educating the target audience 
itself, for their own current and future needs, but as a way of educating 
parents and other family members and the community at large through 
the children. 
Although the programme has been in existence for a decade evaluation 
studies to show the effectiveness of this programme have not been 
done in Ghana or elsewhere in sub Saharan Africa. The author used a 
questionnaire to obtain data concerning the implementation of the 
programme by district co-ordinators at district level. He found that 
most co-ordinators reported that most schools covered most topics, 
particularly the key topics of HIV prevention, personal hygiene, 
substance abuse and pregnancy prevention. The personal hygiene 
component was best covered and the consumer health topic least well, 
although more than 50% of schools covered this topic. When it came to 
establishing the extent of feed-back and evaluation of the programmes 
from students and families concerned, however, a less satisfactory 
situation emerges. Only a small percentage of the co-ordinators have 
conducted either a formal or an informal evaluation of the programme in 
their district. As a result, little is known about the effectiveness of the 
programme or the extent to which it meet the needs of the target audience. 
The author recommends a number of strategies for improving programme 
performance and establishing feedback and evaluation loops from the 
target audience back to the policymakers. 
Another article from Ghana uses a participant observation approach 
to examine the job-seeking activities of young women who leave their
impoverished northern rural homes and come down to the big city to 
seek work. Some of these women become head porters of goods and 
luggage for women shopping in the markets and elsewhere. They cannot 
afford to buy push carts and gender stereotypes in any case forbid this. 
and they lack the educational resources to do other kinds of work. 
James Opare analyses their demographic characteristics and 
vulnerabilities in a range of different spheres; from exploitation by other 
women and relatives as well as sexual abuse by "friendly" men. He 
suggests that, as these women are not likely to stop trying to earn a 
wage in this way, they should be taken on by civil society organizations 
and provided with dormitory accommodation and some form of training. 
Mbuagbo and Fru sketch some of the problems facing civil society 
organizations in Cameroon in the face of undemocratic practices by 
powerful elites, the control of the media and communication by the 
state and the parochialism of Cameroonians themselves which makes 
them an easy target and willing accomplices in the game of divide and 
rule. The authors sketch the extent of fragmentation and competition in 
civil society and comment on the inability of civil society organizations 
to transcend these divisions. The authors point to the possible lead 
that the Catholic Church can give to heal these divisions in civil society. 
As a universalizing authority committed to upholding the rule of law 
and morality the Church can show the way to a social activism that will 
empower civil society organization so they may institute a grassrootsup 
democracy that can ultimately resist state control 
Rono and Aboud take up the theme of community in a rural district in 
Kenya. Although many community development projects have been 
funded in Kenya the standard of living in areas such as Nandi is declining 
and the rural development projects are not succeeding in their aims. 
Community participation, particularly the contribution of free labour, 
plays a large part in development projects. The poor performance of 
these projects may be partly the result of a poor work ethic in the 
community. 
Based on a sample of 25 projects, the authors find that low levels of 
productivity are due to low participation in these projects and that the 
work ethic in the District is also low. This impinges on the success of
community projects and consequently on community development as 
a whole. The authors suggest that rural communities should be 
supported in terms of capacity building and training. In the current and 
foreseeable economic climate, rural people must be empowered to take 
the initiative and work together to develop their own communities. They 
need to be involved in the development process from the inception and 
throughout, at all levels of management. 
In his wide-ranging discussion on the effect of globalization, Gary 
Craig argues that economic globalization is rapidly eroding any 
developmental gains that small and southern states may have made in 
the last few decades. Free market and free-trade policies, but also 
structural adjustment is taking place throughout, in a world unmediated 
by principles of justice. One casualty of these developments is the 
notion of the community. This notion, argues Craig, is expropriated by 
powerful agencies that are destroying communities and their livelihoods 
as the very same time as they are pretending to develop them. Thus 
undermined and impoverished, local economies and welfare structures 
and services are incapacitated. 
Another consequence of the impoverishment and disempowerment 
of local communities is the therefore the large-scale economic and 
political migration from poor countries to the rich northern ones. 
Migrants, both legal and illegal, crossing national borders at an 
exponential rate are being subject to growing racism and discrimination. 
International migration will become the most significant demographic 
characteristic of our century: unjust and exploitative practices must 
therefore be tackled now, before it is too late. Craig shows the functions 
of racism in northern societies and suggests ways that community 
development, based on principles of social justice and modelled on 
community activism, can map a way forward. 
Acknowledgements 
The editor thanks Ix'naDominelH, Perpetua Gumbo, RekoMate, Victor 
Muzvidziwa, Lengwe Mwansa and Richard Wintersteen for their 
assistance as consultants and referees for this issue of the Journal of 
Social Development in Africa.